HAMPSHIRE has been hit by a hosepipe ban - but so far only in the north of the county.

More than 300,000 homes in north Hampshire and bits of Berkshire and Surrey have been affected - the first time such drastic measures have been needed in 11 years.

Despite much of the north's water coming from the same kind of underground water courses as the south's, water chiefs insist southern Hampshire will still escape a hosepipe ban for the foreseeable future.

Bosses at South East Water have introduced the emergency hosepipe ban because of increasing concern at the water levels in their underground sources.

The county is now in its worst dry period since the 1930s, having had more than 18 months of below average rainfall that has seen aquifer levels, from where the majority of Hampshire's water come from, drop to record lows.

Hosepipe bans have already been imposed on residents of the Isle of Wight, while the neighbouring counties of Sussex and Kent have had bans in place since last summer.

environment Agency chiefs have also warned that without fresh rainfall soon the situation is going to get very bleak, with threats to Hampshire's wildlife a real possibility as the region dries out further and there is less water to flush pollution out of rivers.

Residents in the county have already been asked by both The Environment Agency and Southern Water to make efforts not to waste water as the drought across the region continues.

And it's a call being backed by government environment and climate change minister Eliot Morley MP, who urged everyone in Hampshire to get involved or risk shortages later this summer.